Page 79 of The Road to Ruined

I swallow hard, looking down at the ground. "No," I tell him quietly. "No, I don't hate Luca."

"Do you want to see him?"

FOURTEEN

Ifollow Declan back into the hotel and down the hall to a suite on one of the upper floors. He opens the door for me, and, holding my breath, I step inside the dark room, illuminated only by the light of the television. Luca sits on the edge of the bed watching international soccer, eating nachos from a room service tray.

His hair is pulled back, and he has a beard now. He looks like he's lost some of his muscle, too. His clothes fit much looser than they did before.

"Did you see her?" he asks, still looking at the television.

My eyes fill with tears just hearing his voice. I open my mouth, but no words come out.

It's been so long. Will he even still want me? What if he changed his mind?

"Maybe you can talk some sense into her," Declan says. "I'll be back later."

His head whips in my direction just as the door closes behind Declan.

"My angel," Luca says. He sets the nachos on the table beside the television and leans over, picking something up from the ground on the side of the bed before pulling himself onto his feet.

It's a cane. He shifts his weight onto it as he slowly makes his way across the room to me, his right foot barely lifting from the floor.

"Luca, you…" My lower lip begins shaking. I bite it down and choke on a sob.

"Hey, it's okay, baby," Luca says. "Don't cry; I'm all right."

I rush toward him, closing the space between us, and throw my arms around his waist, inhaling deeply.

"God, I missed you, baby," he says, kissing the top of my head. "I love you so fucking much. Do you still love me, Teag?"

"Yes," I cry into his chest. "Yes, I love you. I love you so much. I didn't think…I thought you were dead. And then, I thought you'd never come back for me."

"I'm so sorry, Teagan," he says, running his fingers through my hair. "I'm so fucking sorry, baby. That's all I worried about—all the time—that you'd think I was either dead or didn't want you."

"He left us."

"I know," he says. "I know what happened to you and Riv and Hazel; Brady and Rhett, too. I know, honey."

"I was alone."

"You're not alone now," Luca says. "You weren't alone then, either. I just couldn't get to you, Teag—that's all. Hey, let me look at you. Let me see your face."

I take a small step backward, wiping the tears from under my eyes before I meet his.

"There's my girl," he says, placing a hand on my cheek. "My pretty, perfect angel. Hi, baby." He traces the lace neckline of mytop with his fingertips. "I remember this one. You should have known you'd put that on and end up in front of me."

"I found one of your hoodies in my bag the other day. I wore it for two days straight even though it was one hundred degrees outside, and Bone Saw spilled coffee on it on purpose."

"Bone Saw?"

"The masked asshole stalking me," I tell him. "But Luca…it's been so hard for me. You're the only person…you're the only person in the world who cares about me."

"Teagan, that's not true, honey. Hey, can we sit down? My leg is kind of—"

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, baby. I'm okay."

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